Born in Madrid in 1926, he took part in founding the Arte Nuevo group in 1945 so as to reinvigorate Spanish theatre. He wrote many works for this group. In 1950, he signed the Social Agitation Theatre Manifesto (TAS) and started a series of polemics in newspapers, books and talks, defending active change in society through the theatre. Almost all his theatre production is intimately linked to his political values. In 1953, he premièred his first great success, Escuadra hacia la muerte. Many of his works from those years were banned during the Franco dictatorship. Alongside, his near-fifty theatre works, he also wrote horror stories. In addition, he wrote a short autobiography, Sonata en mi menor.

Awards

National Theatre Award (1986)
National Drama Literature Award (1993)

Essential works

The red gipsy

Alfonso Sastre both recovers and reinterprets the myth of the man-eating woman, adapting it to the present day.